ANKARAGUCU AND THEIR BLACK SUNDAY

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Apologies to The Hurriyet for stealing their headline, but it just about sums it up !

Karabukspor 5 ANKARAGUCU 1

Team -
Senecky
Ugur, Zewlakow, Rajnoch, Murat
Guven, Adem, Aydin, Sapara, Dogan
Sestak

2nd half substitutes - Metin, Ozgur and Gabric

I was first into The Beer Bus Bar followed by Rip Off Kanka Erman, Maniac Kanka Harun and Red Sox Kanka Russ.

Gecikondu looked to be well represented in the Karabuk Stadium and they were singing their heads off, as you would expect !

However, it was Karabuk who threatened first with 'olde boy' Ilhan Parlak shooting past the post on 6 minutes. Karabuk looked like they were up for it and Ankaragucu looked like they were there to defend !

Dogan did have a shot past the post on 9 minutes, but that was the only time Ankaragucu threatened until just before the half time whistle when Guven had a shot on goal which went over.

12 minutes in and I'm thinking Emenike is looking dangerous with neat touches and running off the ball. Sapara was his usual self - seeming to be everywhere urging more from Ankaragucu.

21 minutes in and Seric almost opened the scoring with a 'curler' of a shot which went just past with Senecky looking relieved. That in itself should have been a wake-up call, but it wasn't heeded.

4 minutes later the inevitable happened. A long ball out of defence which was anticipated by Emenike, but not Aydin. He controlled the ball and ran into the Ankaragucu half of the field with Zewlacow trailing in his wake. Senecky had no chance - a great striker's goal.

Murat Duruer was back in defence (whaaaaaaat ???). Great tactics putting him there Umit Bey !! He couldn't burst a paper bag, never mind tackling guys with the physique like Emenike !!! He should have been on the bench, or at the very least, shunted out to the wing where he could do minimal damage !!!

38 minutes in and Duruer gifts the ball to a Karabuk player which almost results in a goal. One minute later he does the same thing and I'm thumping the table in frustration - all eyes are on me and I apologise for my outburst. I promise not to mention Duruer's name again !!!

41 minutes in and Karabuk are really turning it on with their footie. Spreading the ball around and making Ankaragucu look 2nd Class. At last ...... the half time whistle.

Can Umit Bey wave his magic wand ? Noooooooooooooo !!!

6 minutes in and the goal of the match. Emenike turns provider and passes the ball to the unmarked player on the right wing. Off he goes, looks up, crosses just in front of 4 stationary Ankaragucu defenders to the unmarked Ilhan who delivers a perfect over-head kick into the corner. Defo a candidate for goal of the season !

Ankaragucu was reeling now, and 6 minutes later that man again, Emenike (Man of the Match), evades 5 tackles on the left before being brought down unceremoniously by Ugur on the edge of the box (I thought it was inside the box !!). Birol took it and picked his spot in the top left hand corner with the wall superfluous !

One minute later, Ankaragucu did the impossible. A goal ! Sapara (who else ?) took a free kick just outside the box and planted it in the top left hand corner with Tomic stationary.

Unsurprisingly, there was no leaping up and down from the kankas ! This was Karabuk's match and we knew it !!

67 minutes gone and Karabuk was still dictating the match, especially in midfield where they had total control.

15 minutes to go and after a memerising passing movement from Karabuk, Emenike was put through - again his running off the ball exposed the Ankaragucu defence - and he gave Senecky no chance.

10 minutes to go and Karabuk is taking the piss out of Ankaragucu, spraying their passes all over the place with Ankaragucu looking like a pale shadow of the team which beat CimBom and Fener.

Almost full time, but time for Birol to fire in another free kick to the top right hand corner with Senecky again having no chance.

The word humiliated comes to mind ! Yes, and as I said a few weeks ago, it's going to be a long and cold winter of discontent for us kankas !!

Sestak went off injured at half time, so yet more woes to add to the loss of Vittek if it is serious.

Can't say I'm looking forward to next Saturday when Sivas come calling !

btw, Ankaragucu now has the 'distinction' of having the 3rd worst defensive record in the league for shipping goals !! Every picture tells a story !!

All the best from a despondent Eski Kanka Jim

Gencler grab another point and Oz Kanka grabs two scarves from the opposite ends of the political spectrum

Your good correspondant was on his own at the Beer Bus on Saturday afternoon. Not lonely though, I had Efes at hand, footy on the tele, and a copy of Posta newspaper (which is actually more a cartoon strip than a newspaper - and that includes mehmet Ali Birand's column - he was actually spruiking a car hire service for all of his readers who might need a lift from JFK airport into New York!).

Trabzon had gone one-nil down by the time I had to leave for the stadium and it was at the gates I had my first gift of the day - a white scarf with the Genclerbirligi logo at one end and AndoluJet logo on the other.

A freebie is a freebie and I wasn't going to turn it down, even though I got quite a bit of stick from the "anti-Industrial Football" types of the Alkaralar group.

Genclerbirligi 1 - 1 Sivasspor

Hopes were not particularly high before the match thanks to the fact that 326 of our first team players are currently on life-support systems at a Medicana hospital (one of our new sponsors), but still, you never know.

The game kicked off in excellent football conditions, although it was a very small crowd, and it was Sivas who showed their intent to try and get an away win.

Once again Serdar in goal was brilliant. His positional play is excellent and throughout the match he showed why Galatasaray have shown an interest in buying him during the half-season transfer window.

He denied them once or twice and then came what can only be described as a Pro-Evolution Soccer goal. A bloke makes a run down the wing and without really knowing what he was doing sent it across near the goal where the player with the gamepad is then delighted to find that someone had run in. Tap of the [A] key (at least is an [A] key on my generic brand gamepad) and bang. 0 - 1.

Gencler were up for it though and started to put the pressure on. Not much in the way of shots though. Strangely, Zumdick had put Patiyo in as the main striker, a position I had never seen him play before and clearly a big message to our only two fit specialist strikers - Billy Mehmet, who replaced Patiyo in the second half, and Kiwi Smeltz who wasn't even on the bench.

But the attacks were happening and hope was high for an equaliser. In the end it was from a free-kick.

The ball was a few metres outside the box and Soner Oktay hit it over the wall and into the left-hand side of the net. Excellent goal and the second time in two weeks we have equalised from brilliant free kicks.

EDIT: Having seen the highlights I see that at didn't actually go over the wall, but to the left of it. Still an excellent goal.

Match highlights

Half-time and I was having a cigarette next to the sign saying that smoking will net you a 2,000 billion TL fine when someone came over to me and said he would like to give me his scarf - a Kara Kizil Genclerbirligi scarf. I had no idea about who Kara Kizil until I googled them and found this site. Genclerbirligi fan politics is sooooooo far removed from the rest of the league... and that's why I love them. (having thought about it, I wonder if their giving me a scarf was a way of taking the piss out of me for having taken an AnadoluJet scarf ????)

Genclerbirligi: Where corporate marketing meets Anarcho-Communism.

Tempo dropped quite a bit after this but in second half it was almost all us. No real chances were created though and everyone in the crowd was moaning the fact that Pektemek and Zec are still injured. I would say with both of them on the field we could well have one at least three out of our last four matches.

The game ended how it began with Serdar making a great save from Serdar.

Oh yes, one of our guys went off injured in the first half. No word yet on if he has survived or will be back next week.

ANKARAGUCU RECEIVE AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Christmas came early for Ankaragucu this year in the small city of Karabuk.

They were kind enough to show Ankaragucu how the game of football should be played and offered to share their secret with us.

Karabuk 5 ANKARAGUCU 1

I am so full of superlatives for Karabuk's lessons that I can't find the words tonight.

Perhaps tomorrow would be a good time to expostulate on Karabuk's skills and Ankaragucu's lack of skills !!!

Yes, a good idea. Sleep on your anger, and report with a cool head tomorrow !!!

All the best from 'level headed' Eski Kanka Jim

Another draw for Genclerbirligi

It ended up 1 - 1 and we were a bit unlucky not to have got a winner against Sivas. Oh yes, and another injury, our 35th this season. Full report tomorrow.

ANKARAGUCU - LATEST

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The latest news from The Hurriyet newspaper today ..........

The KO time for the Karabuk v Ankaragucu match on Sunday has been changed from 5pm to 1.30pm. The reason was not given ! So, please meet in The Beer Bus Bar from 1pm.

Also reported was the ongoing saga of players not being paid.

Metin, Adem, Aydin, Ugur and Guven have all stated that they are planning to take their case to the TFF if this is not resolved soon.

Also, Vassel is reported as stating that he plans to take his case to FIFA. Apparently, Ankaragucu still owes him 500 Thousand Euros !

All doom and gloom on the horizon me thinks !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - BLOWING HOT AND COLD .... AGAIN !

(Ankaragucu on the attack - look at the well drilled Istanbul BBS defence formation !)

(Nehri of Anti-X Group strutting his stuff and showing his colours !)

(Pre-match smiles from Smiley Kankie, Red Sox Kanka and Eski Kanka)

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

We needed more than optimism pills yesterday - more like 'uppers' were needed to calm nerves in the 2nd half !

Istanbul BBS are no mugs, as their high league position testifies !

ANKARAGUCU 2 Istanbul Buyuk Belidiye Spor 2

The Team -

Senecky

Ugur, Rajnoch, Aydin, Gabric

Murat, Weeks, Kagan, Guven

Sapara

Dogan

2nd half substitutes - Mehmet, Ozgur and Metin

We all met in The Beer Bus Bar - all 5 of us ! Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Smiley Kankie Ozge, Red Sox Kanka Russ (who left early !!) and I. Back Pack Kanka David, recently arrived in Ankara, joined us as we were leaving - looked like he had hitch-hiked all the way from Toronto !!

Into the Stadium just prior to the National Anthem and we were almost off.

I must confess I wasn't happy with the line-up. No Sestak (suspended - too many yellow cards !). No Vittek - still recovering from injury. Metin on the bench. Meye (that's a mystery). So, are we going back to the bad olde days of playing a 'Lone Ranger' up front ..... and at home as well ??!! C'mon Umit Bey, let's be a little more adventurous !!!

Ankaragucu was first to threaten on 7 minutes when Guven sent a screamer in on goal but it was just over.

However, Istanbul was looking dangerous and their passing was pretty damn good compared to Ankaragucu's continuing habit of giving the ball away and taking on one too many defenders. Istanbul had lots of players running off the ball making themselves available for the simple pass. Umit Bey, do you practice these elementary tactics in the Training Ground ??!!

A pretty boring first half ended with me thinking of another 0-0 !

Ankaragucu came out a different team in the 2nd half. How many times have I said this over the past few months ??

5 minutes in and a corner slung over by Sapara into the box and Aydin was first to it to head in.

4 minutes later and a cross into the box from Sapara and a great bullet of a header from the hard-working Dogan to send us all into song.

Was there a goal avalanche I thought ? Grrrrrrr ........ silly me !!

Istanbul stepped up another gear - they were digging deep and refusing to lie-down.

Then Istanbul was awarded a free kick just ouside the box and Ibrahim sent in a fantastic ball into the top right hand corner. Vintage Sapara !

Ankaragucu didn't have time to catch their breath and slow the game down. One minute later an Istanbul breakaway sent Tum off with defenders struggling to keep pace with him. Bang..... and in goes the equaliser.

Momentary shock ........ and then the volume was increased from the tribunes.

It was all end-to-end footie now. Sapara was everywhere shouting instructions (a quote from Battle Damaged ..... he's the backbone of the team. And from Eski ...... he's the engine room of the team) ! Dogan was back in defence at times and Rajnoch was up in attack.

Tum almost scored the winner 5 minutes from time but a great save from Senecky denied him.

Dogan had a goal-bound shot saved 4 minutes from time.

The nerve ends were jangling as Ankaragucu pressed for the winner in time added on, but it was not to be.

A fighting 2nd half display from Ankaragucu but a case of 2 points lost rather than 1 point gained.

Next Sunday Ankaragucu will be away in Karabuk, so probably watching this one in The Beer Bus Bar. KO time to be announced where known.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - COLD .... HOT .... COLD !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Another old-old story from Ankara with Ankaragucu blowing hot and cold during the 90 minutes.

ANKARAGUCU 2 Istanbul BBS 2

There we were 5 minutes into the 2nd half and two quick great goals from Ankaragucu and we are all singing and dancing. When is the 3rd ........... yesssssss ?

Wrong ......... again !

Just as we were blowing hot again ........... it turned slightly chilly !!

Full report tomorrow sometime ..... with photos a la Damon !

btw, I thought Istanbul's 2nd goal was offside. Am I biased ? No doubt Nadeem will give the verdict in his comment !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

A point and more injuries for Genclerbirligi

For neutrals this was a nice match to watch. And so it was for Russ and Sir Eski Kanka who joined me down at the Beer Bus on Saturday afternoon. Little Oz Kanka decided he preferred to stay at a mate's birthday party. I'm not sure if I'm bringing this kiddy up properly.

Kasimpasa 1 - 1 Genclerbirligi

Let me get my excuses in early. Let's check out the Gencler injury list before the match: Mustafa Pektemek, Ermin Zec, Labinot Harbuzi, Michael Stewart, Aykut Demir, Debattik Curri, Orhan Sam...

You can now add our keeper Serdar Kulbilge and Mile Jedinak to the list with both coming off at half-time yesterday. Serdar might be back for next week but it looks like Jedinak will be out for a few weeks at least.

Keeping that in mind you have to give top marks to the Gencler squad, or what's left of it, for going out and playing attractive attacking football. We had the upper hand at the beginning of the match but Kasimpasa started to exploit faults at the back. If it wasn't for the heroics of Serdar (who incidently is reported to be a target of Galatasaray for the January transfer window) we could have been a few down by half-time.

Serdar was in position to stop a number of shots and it was an extremely unlucky deflection that resulted in Kasimpasa scoring the first goal of the match right at the death of the first-half.

The goal was the result of Cem Can making a mistake and so Sir Eski Kanka started piping up that he had done bugger all when he was at Ankaragucu.

Cem Can made it all up though in the 57th minute when he whacked a freekick around the wall, curved it and saw it go under the arms of the Kasimpasa keeper.

More end-to-end stuff and for the neutrals this was a great match.

Slight dissapointment with only getting the one point out of the match, and even more so with news of the injuries. Make sure you bring your Gencler jerseys to next week's home match against Sivas. You never know, you might just get a game.

Cem Can's curling free-kick (at least until this video gets pulled for copyright reasons).

Oh dear, another Gencler injury

All up, a half decent performance from Gencler. A point away from home. The scary bit is that our keeper Serdar didn't come out in the second half. Yet another injury? I'll post a full report tomorrow.

Ankaragucu fan Battle Damaged Damon at the Derby della Madonnina

Probably because my love affair with football really began with my first Ankaragucu match, which probably cost 2 Euro, I never felt the need to be embarrassed about the amount of money I spent on a ticket. This is no longer the case.

The normal ticket price for the 1 arancio section of San Siro where I would be sitting was already 100 Euro (at least four times higher than the most I have ever paid to see a Gucu match). On top of that, however, I wound up paying 80 Euros more in commission. On the up side, however, I didn't have to lift a finger to find the ticket. I merely mentioned that I was looking for one to the helpful staff of Una Maison Milano where we were staying, and--voila! Next thing I knew, they had found it for me.

It is at moments like this that I realize how lucky I am. I couldn't help but think of the dedicated Gucu fans who go to away matches on the free buses only to find that the tickets have been priced out of their reach. They then wind up hanging out outside the stadium bumming cigarettes off passersby like Eski Kanka Jim.

The next step: getting to the stadium proved to be nearly as easy as getting the ticket had been. I merely stepped outside the hotel, crossed the street to the tram stop and caught the 16 which I had been told would drop me off right in front of San Siro. This was not exactly the case, but when the tram came to the end of the line, and all the Inter fans grabbed their little blue and black striped seat cushions and ran to a nearby bus, I had the good sense to follow them. That bus did, in fact, drop us off directly in front of the stadium.

After asking directions from a few people, I found the correct gate and got in line. It had been raining a lot, and the ground was covered in puddles and slick with pieces of wet paper that were lying nearly every where. As we proceded to move towards the row of turnstiles there was a fair bit of pushing. I craned my neck to see what the procedure was. It turned out that the turnstiles were unmanned. When I got there, I merely had to slide my ticket into a scanner, and through I went. This process seemed to work more efficiently than going through the manned single turnstile gates at 19 Mayis Stadium.

My ticket was then checked by security before I headed up to the section where I would be sitting. There was a winding staircase littered with debris similar to the ones in housing projects in big cities. When I emerged, I saw more or less what you see in this photo. In retrospect, I realize that also unlike Ankara, at no point was I frisked. Fine by me.

I looked down and saw that they had a special section for fans in wheelchairs. A section that either doesn't exist in Ankara, or, if it does, is a lot less obvious.


Two of my favorite features of San Siro were the sound system which was both loud and extremely clear and the two enormous screens. I guess I can only dream of audio and video of that quality in Turkey.

The way things are going for Benitez nowadays, I am sure he too is dreaming--of better days.


This score did not stay up for long. I think it was in the 4th minute that Ibrahimovic apparently got fouled shortly after entering the penalty box with a defender on either side. I say apparently because players were slipping all over the place, so I have no idea whether he was really fouled or whether he too merely slipped. Of course, one of the two players was Materazzi, so he probably was fouled. In any case, the ref gave him a penalty shot. The score became 0-1 and it remained that way for the rest of the match.


The section I was seated in was a strange one. It appeared to be for visitors. Not for the visiting team, but for visitors of all types, locals and otherwise. Most of those sitting around me wore the Inter colors, but there were plenty of Milan supporters as well, including a group of young Arab men who knew the words to every Milan song and chant. From my vantage point, everyone behaved in a perfectly civilized way.


Also of note were the cigarettes. I would have assumed that there would have been no smoking in the stadium, but people lit up openly. And speaking of lighting up, there were the flares like nothing I've ever seen in Turkey or anywhere else for that matter.



I couldn't really see what was happening with the Inter ultras because, well, we were under them, but my guess from the little we could see is that they were no less impassioned.






I couldn't hear what they were yelling, but I imagine they were exhorting Sneijder, Eto, and the rest of the squad to stop being so skittish. Sneijder in particular was playing well, but would nearly always put on the brakes upon approaching the box losing all momentum.

Coutinho was also very good. The 18-year-old dazzled with his dribbling, but none of the Inter players could find the solution to the problem of the Milan defense--even after Milan went a man down about a hundred minutes into the match. Me thinks that Benitez has his work cut out for him.

Milan, on the other hand, are in the ascendant. With Ibrahimovic and Robinho up front and a strong mid-field and defense behind them, who can stand in their way?

Actually, I don't really care who comes out on top--so long as it is not Lazio.

I'll leave you all with photos of our mass exodus from San Siro as we head to cars, mopeds, buses, and in the case of many of us the metro. Thanks to the city of Milan for letting me live their passion for football along with them. Great experience.

And upon emerging from the metro the first thing I saw was the Duomo, the madonnina of which is the source of the derby's nickname. Fitting, is it not?

Another dodgy penalty sinks Gencler

"The referee was rubbish, crap," so says Little Oz Kanka who for my money was spot on.

The beautiful Autumn weather continues in Ankara for the start of the Bayram week and so it was in comfort that Spine, Ambo Kanka Peter, Patrick, Ciaran, Little Oz Kanka and myself sat and gossipped in the Beer Bus.

We all crammed into Ambo Peter's car and joined the massive queues to get in. I guess the good weather got the people out as prices for the match were 45tl for Maraton. Pretty steep when you consider that our season tickets cost us 90tl.

Genclerbirligi 0 - 2 Besiktas

With so many of our top players out injured (zec, Harbuzi, Stewart etc) it was with great joy that we saw Gencler go out there with attacking intent. There has certainly been a big change since Zumdick took over a few weeks ago and it is clear that the fans appreciate it.

We were taking Besiktas on and, despite a few scares, were pretty pleased with the overall performance in the first half. One hassle though is that some of our players don't go for shots. This was particularly true of Kiwi Shane Smetlz who seemed as if he wanted to walk the ball into the goal. Come on guys, if you have a chance, go for it!

Just before half-time. Photo by Spine on top of a concrete box.

As I said things were going okay until stoppage time in the first half when a ball went in from the left and seemingly went across the goal and off to the other side. Sighs of relief all round until we noticed that the ref had pointed to the spot. It certainly didn't look like a penalty to me and Besiktas smashed in the goal. All the old (but clean) anti-referee chants went up and a moment or two later I got two text messages. The first from Flying Dutchman Kanka:

"Not a penalty! not even after replay on my laptop. Referee has been bought, no surprise there, eh? Shit Istanbul teams. Haydi Gencler!!!"

Then a moment later from Sir Eski Kanka:

"How much did BJK pay ref?

I'm not sure but you can see the incident at the beginning of this YouTube clip. Sorry to those in Turkey who have can't see it. Youtube seems to be banned again. My advice, check out OpenDNS.



Second half and we stepped up a gear and could have so easily equalised. Serkan pulled off the shot of the match with a lovely far distance strike that the Besiktas keeper only just managed to get a hand to and the ball then hit the upright.

Attack after attack and plenty of sighs and signs of desperation from us Gencler fans when at the very death of the match, at 90+6, Besiktas ran through on a counter attack and scored their second.

A tough end and no points but I'm still feeling positive. We would beat most teams the way we played today, not to mention the referee (it wasn't just the penalty, plenty of Besiktas players should have been given multiple yellow cards).

I actually had a nice afternoon yesterday, and even though we are down near the bottom of the league things are starting to look positive.

ANKARAGUCU - AFTER THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Could things get any better after last Tuesday's result ? No !!

A disappointing display from Ankaragucu today in Izmir.

Bucaspor 0 ANKARAGUCU 0

Eski Kanka was 'The Lone Ranger' in The Beer Bus Bar today, but I had a large Gecikondu/Anti-X contingent for company. Boston Kanka Russ joined me late on and promised to turn up with the kankas next Sunday.

Shock horror ....... when the teams came out and Ankaragucu was in RED shirts and white shorts with Buca wearing OUR strip !! Weird. That's a first for me !

Anyway, Ankaragucu was first into the attack and Kagan had a long range shot which went just wide.

After 15 minutes and Buca was taking control, albeit in the midfield area, and that's where the match stayed for most of the first half.

Lots of high balls from Ankaragucu (again !!) into the Buca penalty area which were being dealt with easily by their defence.

After 40 minutes, another long range shot from Kagan which went past the post and that was the sum of Ankaragucu's serious attempts at scoring a goal.

Some serious efforts from Buca which were being dealt with by the defence and Senecky.

I was thinking to myself at half time .......... if I didn't know better, it would look like Ankaragucu came to Izmir for a point !!

Mehmet came on at the beginning of the 2nd half and added some spark up front, but the final ball was always missing and the spark soon fizzled out.

Buca was attacking full-on now and Klukowski was marshalling the defence well.

64 and 73 minutes and Senecky pulled off two great saves to deny Buca.

75 minutes and Meye was introduced to find the break through. He almost did at the end, but the sting was taken out of his shot when it struck a defender and the goalkeeper saved.

I was up on my feet on 76 minutes when The Beer Bus changed the channel to the Bursa v Trabzon match in line with the bars on either side. I weighed in along with the other Ankaragucu supporters with a protest and it was changed back ......... immediately !! The Beer Bus learned a lesson (as if they didn't know) .......... don't mess with Ankaragucu supporters !!!!

I have to confess that this match was one of the most boring matches I have ever watched, and I'll also confess to watching the babes walking up and down Sakarya Caddesi from time to time during the match !!! Does that paint the picture ???

Gotta step up a gear next Sunday against Istanbul BBS. Perhaps if the backroom staff convince the players that ALL Istanbul teams are in the same category as GS and Fener then we might see some action ??!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU DECLARE THEIR CUP ASPIRATIONS

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Stadium was a no-go for the kankas last night given the ridiculous price hike and work related concerns. Interestingly, Gecikondu was empty, but Maraton full ! However, thanks to TRT the match was screened live.

ANKARAGUCU 4 Fenerbahce 2

No suprises in the line-up, except that 'old boy' Serkan was between the sticks for Fener. That prompted me to say prayer to God for Ankaragucu to score 4 and put Serkan in his place, ie, on the floor. God is great ..... and I think he supports Ankaragucu !!!

The match started with Fener first out of the traps and Stoch in particular showing his speed on the left, leaving Guven for dead a few times.

It was the old old story from Ankaragucu giving the ball away needlessly and being 2nd best in the tackle.

Fener was well in control and then in the 11th minute Stoch sent another tempting ball over from the left which eluded everyone except Semih lurking at the far post and he nodded in. No argument with that. Semih is renowned for being in the right place at the right time.

Ankaragucu was coming more into the match from the 20th minute but their attacks were breaking down in the last quarter before they could test Serkan.

It was almost 2 in the 25th minute when Stoch hit the post and the ball fortunately broke away out of harms way.

On the half hour mark and Ankaragucu was still building from the back but too slowly to do any real damage, and Metin, in particular, was guilty of giving the ball away and losing out in the tackles.

Sestak almost equalised on 37 minutes when he collected a great pass from Sapara and sent the ball just past the post.

Another chance just before the half time whistle when Guven sent in a looping shot from the left which Serkan tipped over for a corner.

Into the 2nd half and was this the beginning of a resurgence in Ankargucu's old attacking style ? Yessssssss !!

Mehmet replaced Guven and Dogan replaced Metin and play was resumed.

The equaliser wasn't long in coming. A corner from Sapara, the flick on at the near post from Klukowski and there was Rajnoch with a great anticipating run to head in.

It was Fener on the back foot now as Ankaragucu was transformed into something more like the attacking team we know.

Dogan put Sestak through but Serkan saved at his feet. Dogan shoots but Yobo deflects it for a corner. Another chance for Sestak but a mis-kick.

It was all Ankaragucu now and Fener was getting rattled !

Then with 15 minutes remaining, the break through. A sweeping move with the ball sent to Mehmet on the right wing. Looks up, and sends the ball to the back post where Sestak is lurking unmarked and he side-foots it in !

5 minutes to go and Ankaragucu is still attacking. Then Mehmet cuts the ball back for the in-rushing Dogan, but the challenge also comes in from Gokhan and he scores a great Own Goal. If it's any consolation to him, Dogan would have scored anyway !

3-1 up and into time added on and a corner from Fener. Santos was at the near post and he rose unchallenged to angle a great header past a deceived Senecky.

Straight from the re-start Ankaragucu pushed forward and from an Umut cut-back, Kagan slotted it in for No4.

What an unbelievable 2nd half !

A joy to see Ankaragucu in full-on attacking mode, and long may it continue. The whole team receive my vote as 'Men of the Match' !

The question now is ......... does Ankaragucu have aspirations on winning the Turkish Cup ????

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - THE TRANSFORMERS !!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

What the Fuck !!!!

How can a team of duffers last Saturday be transformed into a world class team in 3 days ???

Ankaragucu could have beaten The Mighty Hibernian, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Otulu Galatu, and even Genclerbirligi tonight..... or come to that ..... Raith Rovers !!!

ANKARAGUCU 4 Fenerbahce 2

Fantastic second half performance - what did Umit Bey say to them at half time when they were 0-1 down ?

Unbelieveable........ can't find the words tonight .............. full report tomorra .............. lay lay lay lay lay lay lay ............ Aaaaaannnkaaaaarrrrrraaaaagooooojooooo !!!!!

All the best from still 'up there' Eski Kanka Jim

Genclerbirligi make and take a point against Kayseri

Due to French Kanka Hande hosting a celebratory dinner on Friday night I was unable to watch Genclerbirligi away to Kayserispor. I had thought of bringing a radio to the restaurant but ultimately had to rely of Spine's Blackberry for score updates.

Kayserispor 1 - 1 Genclerbirligi

I obviously can't write that much about the game but a simple look at the score, the fact it was an a way match and that a win for Kayseri would have put them into the top spot in the league, all makes it look like a good result.

Ermin Zec was again the man of the match for most and by far the worst part of the match was that it seems like he will be out for a couple of weeks having picked up some sort of knack.

As one fan wrote on the Alkaralar forum. "I had hoped for one point but watching the match I was looking for three".

It seems as if Ralf Zumdick has something quite amazing in the few weeks he has been in charge. Possibly with nothing to lose, the rumours are still out there that he is to be replaced by a Turkish coach as soon as they find one, Gencler in the past couple of weeks have been playing attacking football. It not only looks nice but it gets us points.

This is all good stuff.

Oh. I've just found the highlights on something called YouTube. Both goals were rippers.

ANKARAGUCU .... AND ANTEP PROVE TO BE TOO DIFFICULT A NUT TO CRACK !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Kanka Group decreases in size by the week ! Only Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I turned up at The Beer Bus Bar but were full of confidence that the 3 points were ours for the taking ....... well, I was anyway ! However, Gaziantep gave an excellent demonstration of the reason why they have only conceded 8 goals in 11 matches.

ANKARAGUCU 0 Gaziantepspor 2

All the tribunes were in fine voice when we arrived at the Stadium and I sensed their confidence too.

The team -

Senecky
Ugur, Zewlakow, Klukowski and Rajnoch
Adem, Guven, Murat and Sapara
Sestak and Metin

Substitutes used - Weeks, Mehmet and Dogan

It only took Gaziantep one minute to show their potential to spoil the party. A brilliant move down the left wing with about 10 one touch passes, the ball cut back into the penalty area and the shot just past the post.

That was a wake-up call (if one was needed) and Ankaragucu responded by taking control of the first half and it was mostly all one way traffic in the direction of the Antep goal.

The problem was that the Antep defence was dealing easily with most of the attacks, Guven's long throw-ins and high balls. Man of the Match, Antep's No 13 (I think his name is Dany) was outstanding at the centre of defence and he more or less put Sestak in his pocket for most of the match !

There were two excellent chances for Ankaragucu to make the break through. The first on 22 minutes from a typical Sapara free kick outside the box which Karcemarskas tipped over for a corner.

The second, on the half hour mark when Guven found himself unmarked in the box. However, he hesitated for a second, was tackled and went down and the ball was cleared. Penalty !!! we all screamed, but the referee waved play on ......... wanker !

Gaziantep took control of the 2nd half with Ankaragucu running out of ideas on how to pierce the Antep defence. It was mostly all one way traffic now towards the Ankaragucu goal with Antep sniffing more than one point.

The goal almost came on 50 minutes when a shot came in, hit the bar and was cleared by a grateful Ankaragucu defence.

5 minutes later, on a rare forage forward, Murat sent a great pass to Sestak who controlled the ball and was about to shoot when that man Dany again made the telling tackle and the chance was gone. btw, that was Murat's only real contribution before he was substituted shortly after.

Then the inevitable happened. Metin (what was he thinking ??) backheeled the ball inside his own half direct to Olcan who said .... thanks a lot mate ......... took a few steps and sent a curler of a shot at goal which swerved past Senecky and into the net for a fantastic goal.

Sapara at this stage was screaming at the Ankaragucu players for more effort and the equaliser almost came when Mehmet crossed the ball for Sestak to fire in. But a great save from Karcemarskas denied him a certain goal.

Into the last 15 minutes and Antep had total control now and were taking piss out of Ankaragucu at times with their passing game. Ankaragucu had totally run out of ideas and steam and were running around like headless chickens.

Sapara was still screaming at the team for more, but as they pushed forward in search of the equaliser the sucker punch was delivered.

Antep carved the defence open and De Souza slotted in No2 to kill the game off with the Anti-X Tribune shouting for Umit's resignation. (Battle Damaged joined in the chorus !!!).

Back we trudged to the Beer Bus Bar with long faces.

What now we asked ? The omens are not good I'm afraid. It could be another long hard winter of discontent !!

Up next is the Turkish Cup match at home against Fener on Wednesday KO 8pm. I will be watching this in The Beer Bus Bar because I have business in Kizilay until 8pm.

Next Saturday Ankaragucu is away to Bucaspor. I will give the KO time later when known.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

THE TURKISH CUP - GROUP STAGE

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The draw for the Turkish Cup Group Stage was made late last week, and true to form, has done no favours for Ankaragucu.

Fenerbahce
Ankaragucu
Genclerbirligi
Bucaspor
Yeni Malatyaspor

Since the beginning of the 21st Century, Gencler's successful runs in the UEFA Cup, Turkish Cup and Sportswriters Cup should make them 2nd favourites alongside Fener to proceed into the final Knock Out Phase.

Of course, as we all know, the unexpected can always happen in Cup matches, so at this stage we can at least be hopeful, if not optimistic !!

The schedule is as follows -

Wednesday 10 November

KO 7pm - Buca v Malatya
KO 8pm - ANKARAGUCU v Fener

Wednesday 22 December

GENCLER v ANKARAGUCU
Fener v Buca

Wednesday 12 January

Malatya v Fener
Buca v GENCLER

Sunday 16 January

ANKARAGUCU v Buca
GENCLER v Malatya

Wednesday 26 January

Fener v GENCLER
Malatya v ANKARAGUCU

Let battle commence !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim